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Smoke Alarm Installation, Testing, and Replacement Electrician Mornington Peninsula

Smoke alarm installation is not only a necessity for residential places, but it is also mandated by law which is one thing that I wholeheartedly agree with. There is, however, not enough information spread to the public about smoke alarms as there are a few things that you need to know.

The first important thing that you must know about smoke alarms is that they come with an expiration date. That means that after a while, typically 10 years, smoke alarms lose their effectiveness because of the degradation of their smoke detectors. That means that if the sensor is degraded in your smoke alarm it won’t be able to detect smoke with efficiency and thus can have potentially hazardous consequences.

Another important thing to keep in mind is that smoke detectors don’t come in just one type. There are actually two types of smoke alarms that have very different methods of detecting smoke.

The difference between the two exists because of the type of sensor that they use. Smoke alarms that use a photoelectric sensor are great at detecting smoke coming from slow smoldering fires that take a while to burn. The smoke alarms with ionization sensors, on the other hand, are adept at detecting smoke from fires that are quick to spread. These two types of sensors are incredibly useful and you should pick a smoke alarm that comes with both of them equipped. This way you can make sure that no matter what situation you are faced with, you will have enough time to react.

Another difference that is more commonly known about smoke alarms is that of the battery vs hardwired one. In my opinion hardwired smoke alarms are the way to go because they don’t rely on batteries that can fail and they are also interconnected which means that if one goes off, they all go off. There is one obvious drawback to this though, these alarms are useless in cases of power outages. So that is an important thing to keep in mind when buying smoke alarms.

Smoke alarms are also very sensitive to their placement. If you place them too high they won’t be able to detect smoke. If you place them too low then they might go off when you’re just cooking. Placing them in front of ventilation reduces their effectiveness, plus there are certain laws that dictate where they need to be, how far away from each other, etc. It is because of these reasons that you shouldn’t attempt to install your own fire alarms unless you’re a professional electrician.

As for the repair, testing, and replacement of smoke alarms, you should make sure that you are trusting a professional Local Mornington Peninsula electrician with the job. If you would like your smoke alarms tested, replaced, or just need one installed by an electrician then give me a call today at 0415 899 988, fill out a callback form here, or email me at mark@southsideelectrics.com.au.